On 3 June Customs4trade will be present on the AEO workshop in Namur.  This workshop is organised  by Logistics in Wallonia, ABCAL, VBO-FEB, FEBETRA, OTM, FOD-SPF Finances, UPTR and UWE.  They are also supported by the FOD-SPF Mobility and Transport. 

On the program are the lectures of Bernard Piette (Logistics in Wallonia), Vincent Reuter (UWE), Noël Colpin & Raymond Marchal (FOD-SPF Finances) and Luc Clauwaert (ABX Logistics).  Additionally, there are testimonies of companies who have already applied for AEO, such as Prayon, Garsou-Angenot and Caterpillar.  The testimonies are followed by a panel discussion which will be animated par Philippe Vandooren (Transport Echo). 

Rudy Thomaes (VBO-FEB) is concluding the programme on the subject of the Secure Trade Lanes.

The workshops starts at 9h00 and ends at 12h30 with a walking lunch.

We will provide information on our AEO services and our customs e-learning tools, developped by the WCO for which we are official distributor of the Benelux.  

We look forward to assist you. 

Location: Espace Vinçotte, Parc Scientifique Créalys, rue Phocas Lejeune 11, 5032 Isnes (Gembloux)

Participation: 40€ (VAT exclusive) per person

More information or participation ? click here

Incoterms - short for “International Commercial Terms” - are standard trade definitions most commonly used in international sales contracts.  Among the best known Incoterms are EXW (Ex Works), FOB (Free on Board), CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight), DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid), and CPT (Carriage Paid To). 

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), introduced the first version of Incoterms in 1936.  Since then, ICC experts in the Commission on Commercial Law and Practice have updated them six times to keep pace with the development of international trade.  The last update of the Incoterms entered into force on 1 January 2000.  

Recently ICC took the decision to review these “Incoterms 2000″.  A major revision is expected on the seller-buyer cargo security obligations, which are linked to respective Custom-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) cargo security regimes. 

As ICC has the reponsibility to consult regularly all parties interested in international trade,  ICC Belgium is currently undertaking an inquiry to make sure that the Belgian companies interested can give their input for changes.  The results of the inquiry will be available as from 15 June onwards.

Click here if you want to follow this inquiry.

The EU and Korea have concluded the 7th round of negotiations for an EU-Korea FTA.  The first negotiations were launched on 6 May 2007.  During the last round of negotiations in January 2008, the EU and Korea agreed on important issues such as sustainable development, antitrust and merger aspects of competition policy, transparency of domestic regulation and bilateral dispute settlement mechanisms. 

The current negotiations covered a wide range of negotiating issues, including non-tariff barriers, industrial goods tariffs and rules of origin. 

The two sides made further progress on ‘behind the border’ issues such as standards and certification requirements in a number of sectors.  Korea has also signaled its readiness to examine enhanced protection for geographical indications (GI’s).

Korea used this round to raise the question of the EU’s rules of origin -the rules governing the import of products into the EU produced in more than one country.  Both sides have achieved a better understanding of each other’s positions, and the EU intends to present a compromise proposal to Korea.

The difficult question of tariffs for industrial goods, including those on passenger cars, and the automotive non-tariff barriers have been discussed among the two negociators.  The gap in the respective positions remains.  However, both sides recognise the need to come to a common understanding.   

Eu and Korea will continue contacts at various levels.  The next round of negotiations is expected to be the final one, for which the date has not yet been fixed. 

The EU is committed to securing a comprehensive, highly ambitious and balanced agreement, in line with what the Commission set out in its Global Europe trade strategy.  The EU is Korea’s second largest export destination after China, and Korea is the EU’s fourth largest non-European trade partner.  The EU remains the largest foreign investor in Korea ahead of the US, Japan and China.  EU-Korea trade exceeded €64 billion in 2007.

Source: EU Trade News weekly digest 15 May 2008

The Belgian Customs and Excise Administration can go ahead to post 5 customs representatives in important markets, outside the EU.   Noël Colpin, the Belgian Administrator General, convinced the Belgian government to have its own customs representatives in Moskow, Pretoria, Washington, New-Delhi and Beijing.  Aim is to simplify the economical relations with these countries by the presence of Belgian customs representatives.  The names of the newly appointed will be made official in June.

This decision is complimentary to the project for ’secure trade lanes’.  A ’secure trade lane’ is a logistics information platform, which gives access to transaction data.  Customs authorities are studying how to work together for the exchange of data and the monitoring of movement of goods.  Belgian Customs are involved in the study of the trade lane with India.  Other countries next to India with whom the EU wants to set up trade lanes are China, South-Africa and South-Corea. 

Another initiative in the same context is Authorized Economic Operator (AEO).  AEO certified companies will eventually be authorised to use these trade lanes.  By doing so, they will benefit from a preferential treatment offered by customs authorities for consignments proven safe.  The level of certification will however determine how clients will be subject to customs checks.   

It is clear that customs will evolve from its current role as an administrator into a new role as facilitator of business.